Chapter Nine
CHAPTER NINE
S ERENA FOUND THAT having her own bed back had done nothing to help her sleep, with Luciano stretched out on her window seat. She had tossed and turned and…throbbed and ached for half the night.
She hated to think what she might have done with herself if she’d been alone. The thought haunted her, no matter how she tried to set it away. She had not known that pretending could be…
Well, it didn’t matter what it could be. What mattered was how she was going to deal with it. In reality, it was a good thing , part of the plan. He’d kissed her for the cameras, and ideally, she’d fooled him enough that he’d gone to sleep thinking she’d enjoyed it.
You did enjoy it .
And that was the disturbing fact she kept coming back to. She had wanted more. Giving into any kind of seduction last night would not have been part of any plan .
Not that he’d tried to seduce her. He’d eased away from that kiss, stepped away from her as if he’d…tasted something bad. But for a while, for the majority of that kiss, he had not.
She had nothing to compare it to, but it had seemed like he’d had a physical reaction somewhat on par with hers.
An act. Of course it was an act. Everything they did except hate each other was an act. And the act was important. Which was why she slipped out of bed, shrugged on her robe and grabbed her phone. She had an order of business to get over with.
She stepped quietly out of the room and took the door out onto the balcony that overlooked the sea, the colorful buildings crowded along the shoreline. And her, alone and isolated on her castle on the hill.
Just where she wanted to be. What she did not want was to do what must be done, but she could hardly put it off if pictures of last night started to circulate. She took in steadying breaths of air, let it wash through her and fill her with calm.
She would need it.
She dialed her mother’s number, watched the morning sunlight dapple across the water. Part of her hoped her mother wouldn’t answer, and she couldn’t help feeling ashamed of that hope. Even if her mother didn’t deserve her devotion, she was not an evil woman. Just a self-centered one, who didn’t realize how words could hurt.
“Serena.” The greeting was tinged with disappointment. “Haven’t we discussed how busy I am in the mornings and how little I like to have conversations before lunchtime?”
Serena didn’t sigh. “I apologize, Mother.”
Angelica Valli—she’d kept her ex-husband’s last name despite many romantic partners since because she liked the cache it gave her and the opportunity to discuss what a terrible husband he’d been—sighed heavily.
In her youth, she’d been an actress, and she still missed the stage so played whatever role she could whenever life gave her the opportunity. She liked attention in whatever ways she could get it, and she was very good at getting it.
The one role she’d never played well, from Serena’s point of view, was mother.
But that was neither here nor there.
“I have some news, and as it will likely be made public soon, I wanted to tell you first,” Serena said, being careful to keep her voice neutral. “It won’t require any conversation at all. I am engaged. To be married.” She stared at the beautiful ring on her finger. If nothing else, her mother would certainly be impressed with that.
Her mother laughed, and Serena winced in spite of herself. The caustic sound reminded her too much of how uncomfortable she’d been in her mother’s care. Neither of her parents had quite known what to do with her, and as much as her father had not been a loving or devoted man, he’d mostly ignored her.
Angelica preferred to poke . It had been there before the divorce but had only gotten worse after.
You’ll always be as dull and uninspiring as your father. Nothing I could do could change it.
Yes, Angelica had always made it clear there was nothing to be done, so Serena had leaned into the dull —which was where she felt most comfortable. And in the dull, in the as your father , she had found her mark.
She had made herself into a businesswoman to rival her father. So perfect, so smart, so cunning that even he who had no interest in her at all had been forced to admit she was an asset to Valli.
“Well, that is interesting,” Angelica said after a while. “I hope you’ll be smart enough to protect your own assets, while getting access to as many of his as possible. Don’t let romantic notions fool you.”
“Of course not.”
No congratulations. Not even excitement over the prospect of a wedding. Just: make sure to protect your assets .
Which was fine, because this was entirely about her assets, even if her mother didn’t know that.
“Is that all?” Mother asked. No questions about a wedding, or even about the man in question. Just is that all. Serena did not understand why she thought there might be more, except her mother had always told her to focus on tricking a man into marrying her, rather than do something so boring as go into the Valli business .
And here she was, doing both. And Mother didn’t care.
Why did you think she would?
Serena had to clear her throat to speak. To finish the conversation with all the pertinent information, no matter how much she preferred to just hang up. “I believe you know of my fiancée.” As if mentioning him conjured him, Luciano stepped out onto the balcony wearing black trousers and a button-down shirt.
Unbuttoned. With sleep-tousled hair. And still too unfairly beautiful in spite of it. He looked like an ad for cologne or expensive watches.
“I cannot imagine I’d know anyone who would find themselves engaged to you, darling. We move in much different circles socially.”
Socially, maybe, but the men she did business with tended to be in the monetary echelon that her mother preferred to socialize with. She did not know if Mother and Luciano had ever been properly introduced, but no doubt Mother had been to his club. No doubt Mother knew just who he was and what his financial portfolio looked like.
Something about that made her hesitate, but any hesitation about giving her mother this information and dreading what she’d do about it had to be moved past. This needed to be done. “Luciano Ascione.”
He did a little mock bow, as if she’d introduced him to a crowd of people who were thrilled and applauding. It had a foreign feeling settling in her chest. Almost like amusement, when a conversation with her mother never had any of that.
There was a beat of silence, and Serena would blame Luciano distracting her on the fact that she was not prepared and braced for her mother’s reaction.
“Serena. You cannot be this stupid.”
Serena blinked, stiffened even though she’d taught herself long ago not to let her mother’s barbs land. “I beg your pardon?”
“What would a man like Luciano Ascione want with you ?”
The question was an honest one, even if it twisted in Serena like old insecurities she’d forced herself to leave behind. Mother didn’t mean anything by it. She simply and honestly did not understand.
And Serena knew she’d never be able to convince her mother, but she supposed she had to at least pretend to try. “I’m sure it does not seem like it on paper, but Luciano and I actually have quite a bit in common.”
Luciano raised an eyebrow, and the strangest sensation of wanting to laugh overtook the dull ache of dealing with her mother. Perhaps she should always have him around when handling this kind of undertaking.
Luciano held out his hand, a kind of sign that he wanted the phone.
She nearly did laugh out loud then. She shook her head, tried to remember what she’d been about to tell her mother. They had things in common and…
He made the gesture again. Serena turned away from him so he couldn’t distract her anymore. “Mother—”
The phone was plucked from her fingers and she whirled around to try to retrieve it, but Luciano held her phone to his ear and his arm out like he was warding her off.
“Mrs. Valli, so good to talk to you,” he greeted cheerfully. “Luciano Ascione here. I’m not sure we’ve ever spoken, but of course Serena has told me much about you, and I believe you were friendly with my uncle for a time.”
Serena advanced on him, trying to reach for the phone, but his free hand clasped her wrist and held her out of reach. An easy display of his height and strength.
“Serena accepted my proposal just last night. I like to believe I’ve won over her suspicious nature, but I won’t be able to believe it for sure until she introduces me to you.”
Serena considered kicking him in the shin, but she must have telegraphed the thought because he quickly dropped her hand and took two steps away. Humor danced in his eyes while she hoped murder danced in hers.
She tried to advance again, quickly this time. A quick grab out and she’d have the phone and—
Instead, she found her back plastered to his chest, one muscular arm of his banded around her midsection, holding her arms down at their sides. Effectively immobilizing her. She was so shocked that for a moment, she only stood there, fully still. Fully…something.
If anyone came upon them, it would look a bit like a lover’s embrace with his chin tucked over the top of her head. Rage warred with the unfamiliar feeling of being so close to someone, held so tight. It wasn’t threatening . She didn’t feel the desperate need to escape.
No, she felt…held. And the foreign feeling of wanting to sink into something so…strong. So warm. A direct antithesis to the morning.
But it was annoying, she reminded herself. He should not be talking to her mother. He should not be…any of this.
She lifted one leg, trying to determine if she could bend it at the right angle to come into hard, painful contact with a vulnerable part of his body.
He chuckled and the rumble of his chest against her back reminded her, so unfortunately, of last night. Of the way it had rippled through her when she’d felt his heart thud against hers, body to body, mouth to mouth. So that security meshed with that unfamiliar pulse , and she didn’t know what to make of any of it.
“We would like to invite you to dinner,” Luciano was saying in a voice full of cheerful vivacity. “If your schedule would allow it, of course. To celebrate our most happy news.”
Oh…no , was all Serena could think and she began to squirm in earnest. She had to stop this. Luciano’s grip was tight, but she could move the lower half of her body. If she twisted back and forth…
“I’ll work out the details and send a formal invitation once it is set. Let me give you back to Serena.”
So quickly that she nearly stumbled forward, he released her. He held out the phone to her, his mouth curved into an amused smile. But there was something about the look in his eye, the way he’d angled the lower half of his body away from her that left her feeling suddenly…winded. Like they had narrowly missed…something.
But she could hear her mother’s voice coming from the receiver and had to lift the phone to her ear.
“I suppose I will come to dinner,” Mother was saying, sounding so affronted and exhausted by such a simple request. “But I can’t promise I will be able to pretend this is anything but an embarrassment.”
“Mother, you don’t have—”
But before she could finish, Mother was saying good-bye and hanging up.
Serena whirled on Luciano. She felt too many things to parse, and she knew better than to let loose with temper when she was churned up in ways she didn’t understand. But she hated him.
Hated.
“You shouldn’t have done that.”
“Why not?” he returned in that maddeningly insouciant way of his. “She will have to be at the wedding. Besides, if we have the dinner somewhere public, there’s another opportunity to be seen. If I am not mistaken, your mother loves to be seen.”
“Yes, she does. In any way she can. She also enjoys to cause a scene, and since she thinks this is an embarrassment and I am stupid for thinking you could want to marry me, this can only end in disaster.”
For a moment, Luciano said nothing. He studied her with a kind of seriousness she did not recall ever seeing in him before. It made her…nervous. Like he could…understand all the twisted pieces inside of her that Mother managed to work up no matter how hard Serena tried to remain unmoved.
She knew very little about his upbringing, except that Gianluca Ascione had been a hard and exacting man to everyone in his life—including his son.
This realization poked holes in her growing balloon of rage and had her deflating into something…tired. She just felt exhausted. Like no matter how hard she tried, all her perfection was an impossible wall to keep building, because he would always slip through the cracks.
“Then we shall have a dinner at my penthouse,” he finally said.
It would be easier. Mother hated the castle. But… “Why?”
Luciano shrugged. “If she is going to make a scene, I prefer handling scenes on my home battlefield.” His smile was sharp. “Besides, it gives us an opportunity to have people see you and your mother go into my building, without anyone seeing the scene itself. This is our goal, is it not?”
She closed her eyes, pinched the bridge of her nose and turned away from him and toward the balcony. She rested her elbows on the rail and took a deep breath of sea air in.
She felt him come behind her and she tensed, for too many reasons, really. But somehow she knew he would touch her. She thought she didn’t want him to. She wanted it to be because she didn’t want to be touched by him , but she did. And that’s what she didn’t want. This constant proof that she wanted more of his hands on her, and all her denials were just that. Denial.
Then he pushed his thumb against the tight muscle in her neck, and she could be embarrassed later at the happy sigh that escaped her mouth. God that felt good.
“Did you not sleep well, cara ?” he asked in a soft, sultry murmur.
She was tempted to melt into the touch, into the quiet lull of his voice. His thumb rubbed circles against her neck and it was truly a glorious relaxation. It hit the exact right spot that had tensed and tensed and tensed. She wanted him to do that forever.
Until she remembered she hated him. And the fact his question was just him being a jerk, not actually expressing concern.
“I slept beautifully,” she replied, stepping away from his hands. They were a problem. And while she was planning on giving in to the seduction route, sometimes, a girl had to know when to retreat. “And now, I need to get to work.”
“ We , darling,” he said, holding out his elbow like he expected her to loop her arm with his. “We will head into work together this morning.”
* * *
Serena had not fought him as much as he’d anticipated. She’d surveyed him with that regal disdain as he’d explained that they should take turns going into each other’s offices, begin to lay the groundwork for a merger while the lawyers drew up contracts and what not.
And show off her ring. The stories should start weaving their way through their mutual acquaintances, so giving everyone something even more concrete to talk about would be good. He had no doubt that both he and Serena would have all sorts of meetings lined up—customers who had left crawling back and begging for a moment just to get a sniff of gossip.
Then, together, they would offer a new deal that the Americans would not be able to match. Serena’s homegrown connections. Luciano’s ironclad global partnerships. Together, they would offer their customers everything .
It was such a good plan, he sometimes forgot it was hers.
They walked into the Valli office building, arm in arm yet again. Serena ensured it was her left hand in his, so the diamond was what anyone would come face to face with as they approached.
She greeted anyone they came across by name—something the Vallis were famous for. A personal approach. Family to family. Ironic considering how little of a family man Serena’s father had been, but in the confines of these walls, Mr. Valli had built his own family. And made a lot of money from it.
His own father had considered it beneath him. He’d gone for the glitz, the glamour. A royal kind of viewpoint, handed down from generation to generation. A counterpoint to the allegedly humble Vallis—which of course had only infuriated his father, because they’d amassed as big a fortune as he had.
Honestly, both methods were just smoke and mirrors to hide the fact that both men were ill-equipped to manage the legacies handed down to them.
Ironic that their children should seek to save said legacies. Together.
When they stepped out of the elevator on a higher floor, Luciano realized that this would be her floor. The woman behind a desk that guarded the hallway of doors immediately jumped to her feet.
“Good morning, Andrea,” Serena greeted, moving in a straight shot toward whatever target she sought. But as she passed the desk of who Luciano assumed was Serena’s assistant, Serena paused and turned to look at this Andrea.
Luciano watched as Serena carefully composed herself, put on that fake smile she was so good at. Meanwhile, the assistant couldn’t seem to stop herself from staring, open-mouthed, at the diamond on Serena’s hand.
“Andrea, I’d like to introduce you to my fiancée, Mr. Luciano Ascione. You will likely be seeing quite a bit of him in the coming months. I hope I can count on you to help him feel welcome and at home here at Valli.”
“O-of course. Welcome, Mr. Ascione.” The woman hesitated, like she wasn’t quite sure how to greet him. A handshake. A curtsy. A spitted oath.
“Thank you, Andrea.” He offered her a warm smile, trying to balance his usual charm with something more…homey. He did not think he succeeded when Andrea’s cheeks turned a faint shade of pink.
“We will be in my office. You can send any phone calls through, but please no visitors.”
“Yes, ma’am. Ms. Valli—”
But before she could say whatever she was going to say, a group of men appeared in the hallway it appeared Serena had been meaning to go down. Luciano didn’t think they noticed the change in Serena’s demeanor. It was very subtle.
But clearly a kind of putting on armor.
“Serena,” one of the men said. He had a thick mustache and heavy middle. Luciano thought he recognized him as one of the Valli high-level managers his father had once tried to woo away from Valli.
“We’ve called an emergency meeting,” the man said firmly. Like a father might tell a child they were grounded.
Every single man blocking their way stared at Luciano with disapproving eyes. Honestly, it wasn’t all that different than being in his own office. Disapproval was comfortable and easy. Especially in these circumstances, he liked that they felt like a challenge.
“You’ll need to discuss an appropriate time in my schedule with Andrea,” Serena replied dismissively.
“We already have.”
Serena looked back at Andrea, who nodded nervously. “You had space at ten-thirty and they were very…determined.”
“Very well. I will see you then. If you’ll excuse us.” She gave them an imperious glare, gestured for them to move out of her way.
With her left hand. Luciano watched as every single one of them zeroed their gaze to the ring on it. There was not surprise, but there was consternation. But they shuffled out of the way so Serena could march through.
She led Luciano to what he assumed was the door of her office. She opened it and gestured him inside.
“Serena, this is very perplexing,” one of the men said, making a move as if he’d follow her into her office.
“For you,” she said cheerfully. Then she shut the door on his face, without so much of a hint of regret. She moved to her desk and placed her briefcase on it. Every move was precise and economical, as if she didn’t care one bit about the grumpy old men in the hall.
“Did your father really trust those dimwits?” Luciano asked casually, wondering if she’d leap to their defense when it came to him.
She did not. “I am afraid so. They agreed with whatever he said, and that is how my father preferred to run a business.”
“But not you?”
“Why would I surround myself with people who agree with me when I could surround myself with intelligence and tact and ensure that I have the best operations by nature of the fact I’m bringing sharp minds together for a common goal?” She moved about her desk with impatient movements—a woman on a mission.
It surprised him a little to hear her say this. She seemed so determined and sure of herself, he was surprised she gave any time to anyone else’s intelligence or sharp mind. Also, it sounded too close to how he managed his business. “I quite agree with you,” he said, settling himself into a cushy armchair in the corner.
The office itself was sparse, minimalist and not at all like her or her home. But this chair was cozy and comfortable, and no doubt something she’d chosen for herself.
“Yes,” she surprised him by saying, instead of trying to eviscerate him with some politely delivered stab at his intelligence, or lack thereof. “I looked into your club.”
He watched her face, especially when she expressly did not meet his gaze. “Did you?” he murmured, intrigued that she might look into anything that had to do with him. But maybe he shouldn’t have, and maybe he shouldn’t be pleased. If she’d looked into it, it was no doubt to get her hands on it later.
He’d blow it up himself first.
“I expected, like so many trust fund babies, you would have filled the books with paying off school cronies and others riding the coattails of their family’s wealth,” she said, settling down to her laptop. “Instead, you’ve hired some heavy hitters.”
“Your acting is improving. You don’t even sound shocked.”
“I wouldn’t say your ability to make a decent business decision shocks me,” she said thoughtfully. “Not at this point. You are not quite as dim as I would have liked to have given you credit for.”
“Why, Serena, I must be rubbing off on you. Has our kiss or my ring robbed you of your senses?”
Then she did meet his gaze. She even smiled. “It must be both.”
It was a joke, bordering on flirtatious, and Luciano could not account for the way that made his chest tight. Made him think of said kiss, of her body pressed to his—on the beach last night, on the balcony this morning. How different and intriguing she was. How completely, uniquely her .
He did not know anyone like her. Except, just maybe, himself. Though he did not share her strange obsession with animals and floral.
Their gazes held a few beats too long, just like at the beach last night. When she finally looked away, he’d hoped it’d feel like he won a challenge.
It didn’t. It felt like a loss.
“You’ll attend the meeting with me. We’ll outline our plan—the parts they need to know anyway. Then we’ll meet with the lawyers. We’ll need to move that along so no one can attempt to throw a wrench in it.”
“Which means we’ll also need to move the wedding along, don’t you think?”
She sighed, but she didn’t argue with him. “Yes. The sooner the better.”